WORCESTER—In a decisive move to address Worcester’s ongoing traffic safety crisis, the Traffic and Parking Committee of the Worcester City Council unanimously on Sept. 4 voted to approve the proposals of a statutory speed limit of 25 mph and an establishment of 20 mph safety zones throughout the city.
The committee’s decision paves the way for a full council vote scheduled for Sept. 10 to decide whether to adopt the proposals.
The proposals aim to tackle the rise in traffic accidents and fatalities in Worcester. In 2024 alone, the city witnessed over 2,800 car crashes, resulting in 51 serious injuries or deaths, with 90 incidents involving pedestrians.
“I support adopting a statutory speed limit of 25 mph and establishing safety zones with 20mph speed limits” said Donna Colorio, chairperson of the Traffic and Parking Committee, “Hopefully we can move forward as a city with safer streets through lowering speed limits and further expansion of traffic enforcement division within the Worcester Police Department.”
“This is a matter we’ve been discussing for months now,” said Stephen Rolle, commissioner of the Department of Transportation and Mobility. “We’ve had quite a bit of public discussion both from this committee, the various meetings held in the different council districts throughout the city, and getting feedback from the online survey that we conducted in June primarily,” Rolle explained.
“The last eight weeks we have had six people severely injured or fatally injured in our streets,” he added. “The administration strongly supports these measures. It’s a starting point and one piece of the puzzle, but we think it’s an important one.”
Rolle emphasized that the main takeaway of the survey is that there is broad recognition that speed and traffic safety are serious concerns in Worcester and the problem’s been getting worse.
“The Worcester Police Department strongly supports this change,” said Interim Police Chief Paul Saucier. “We’re also going to incorporate several different methods to help with this starting within a week we’re going to expand the traffic division by incorporating a motorcycle unit into that overall division.”
Saucier stated that through aggressive enforcement he hopes this will change the mindset of the motoring public. The WPD will also increase enforcement in Worcester’s neighborhoods by using motorcycles equipped with LIDAR units, according to Saucier.
Residents also weighed in on the proposal during the committee meeting, some expressing visual and verbal frustrations. “
Yesterday my son and I, along with an older man, experienced a harrowing situation at the intersection of Park Ave and Beaver St.,” said Nelly Medina, a Worcester resident and executive director of the Free Worcester Coalition. “As the red lights flashed and the car signals appeared, cars including a Worcester Public School bus attempted to make it past the red light and crosswalk ahead of us. This was not just a near miss but a stark reminder of the daily dangers we face on our streets.”
“To achieve our potential as a city, people need to feel safe on our streets,” said Jacob Seidel, a Worcester resident. “For local businesses to thrive and for people to want to raise their children here, the streets have to be safe.”
The public outreach process, including an online survey, revealed broad support for the speed limit reduction, according to Rolle and city councilors. Residents viewed it as a low-cost, easily implementable measure that could not only significantly enhance safety for residents, but also increase community interaction in the city.
“We have grown exponentially in the past few years but we still have the same problems we’ve had for the past few decades,” said David Webb, a Worcester resident. “We could have held this meeting in January. If enforcement solved this issue, we wouldn’t have had as many accidents as we had these past few years.”
“We’re moving past paralysis into action. I thank the folks that have been advocating for this,” said Councilor Thu Nguyen. “You have really pushed our council to take this action forward.”
The proposal now moves to the full council for a vote on September 10th. If approved, Worcester will join 66 other Massachusetts communities that have already enacted 25 mph speed limits.
“We’ve learned that some of the work that’s been done is that implementation of rollout is so important as many folks have mentioned,” said Khrystian King, vice chairperson. “Part of this will require us to work with the state and to work with the police department and the DPW for signage.”
If the proposals are adopted, the city plans to update signage and launch a public awareness campaign, taking cues from Lowell’s recent implementation of similar measures, another city that just adopted a 25 mph statutory speed limit. WPD will also use social media to get the word out if the speed limit reduction proposals are approved, according to Saucier.
As Worcester grapples with its “traffic violence crisis,” this step towards safer speed limits represents a move in the city’s broader efforts to enhance road safety and livability for all residents. The speed limit proposals also align with Worcester’s broader Vision Zero Safety Action Plan, which is slated for completion this fall.
Matt Olszewski is a freelance content and news writer based in Boston, MA. In his free time, Matt enjoys running, hiking or skiing. Matt is currently finishing up the MPH degree program at Tufts University. He can be reached at mattoskier@gmail.com
